Cooling and lubricating crank-case engines.



"R. LLBOW'MA'N.

PATENTEB 0012 42 1904 1 GUOI 'ING AND LUBRIGATING CRANK CASE ENGINES.

'ABPLIOATION TILED APR. 23, 1904.

' N0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET L INVENTOR ATTORNEYS PATENTED OUT. 4, 1904.

R. L. BOWMAN. COOLING AND LUBRIGATING CRANK CASE ENGINES.

APPLICATION TILED APR. 23. 1904.

2 SHEETSSHEET Z.

ATTORNEYS Umjran STATES Patented October 4, 190 1.

PATENT QFMGEO' COOLllNG AND LUBRICATING'CRANK CASE ENGllN-ES SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters I atent No. 771,703, dated October 4, 1904.

Application filed April 23, 1904.

To on whom it may concern;

Be it known that 1, ROBERT LEE BOWMAN, a citizen of the-United States, residing-at Pineville, in the county of Bell-and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement-in Processes and Apparatus for Cooling and Lubricating Crank-(Jase Engines,

of which the following is a specification.

In crank-case steamengines-such, for instance, as those of the Westinghouse type' great difficulty has been experienced in keeping the bearings cool and properly lubricating the same. When the bearings become heated, they expand and rapidly wear and the excessive heat carbonizes or cooks the oil, the difficulty being rapidly increased bythe increased friction of the rubbing parts from expansion.

Crank-case engineshave been lubricated Within by a floating body of oil contained in the crank-case and sustained upon a perma-i nent'subjacent body of water. Into this oil the revolving cranks dipfand by splashing and otherwise distribute the lubricant upon the wearing-surfaces. This permanent body of water soon becomes as hot as the crank 7 case itself, and the heat and the agitation by "and their bearings lubricated, and a certain portion also is thrown up by splashinginto splashing soon churns up the oil and waterinto an emulsion, which not only is unfavor able for lubrication, but'from which the 'oii cannot be recovered in normal condition'fit to be again used in the oil-cups. 4

My invention consists of a novel process and apparatus for coolingand lubricating the bearings, in which the crank-case is never allowed to reach a high temperature and the oil is neither'emulsified'nor cooked, but'is constantly removed in normal condition from the crank-case as it accumulates and is separated by gravity and is used over and over again thereby insuring a great saving in oil and avoiding the disastrous heatingand wearof therubbing parts of the engine, as Well as greatly increasing the efficiency of the latter and economizing fuel. I My invention consists in maintaining a constant flow of cold water through the crankcase and sustaining a supernatant film of oil thereon into which the cranks dip and efprocess.

Serial No. 204,651- (No model.)

' fecting the gradual and constant removal of this oil in normal condition and separating it from the water for reuse, as will be herein; after fully described with reference to the drawings, in which I I 1 Figure 1 is a vertical section taken longi tudinally to the crank-shaft; and Fig. 2 is a section at right angles taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing also the'conncting-pipes and apparatus employed for. carrying out my In the drawing Fig. 1, X is the crank-case, and Xthe superposed cylinders carrying pistons, which by connecting-rods Z are coupled to the crank portions of the rotary shaft Y.

This shaft'is journaled in bearings d in thesides of the crank-case, which bearings are lubricated by the dripping of oil from the superposed cups'w, fixed to. the sides of the cylinders. i

Within the crank-case is maintained a constantlyrchanging body of Water, which is maintained at the level marked Water-line and on which floats a film of oil gatheredfrom the; leakage from thebearings and into which oil the cranks are projected as they revolve the lower open ends. of the cylinder. The cold water constantly flows in near the top of the crank-case through the inlet-pipe A and constantly flo'ws out near the bottom through theoutlet-pipe C, the water-level being maintained by external devices hereinafter dcscribed,

Referring now to Fig. 2, which shows a cross-section of Fig. l, the inlet Water-pipe is shown at A and the outlet-pipeat (I D is a funnel-shaped gage-cup which communicates with the outlet-pipe (land rises to a distance sufliciently high to maintain the water at the :desired level in the crank-case, the water standing at the same level in the gage-cup as in'the crank-case, the cup D thus serving also as a gage. At the desired water-level an overflow-pipe B is tapped into the gage-cup and its other'end is turned down and coupled into the horizontal outflow-pipe (1. Between this connection of pipes B and C and the gage-cup D there is a cut-off valve,c, set in the pipe G, which valve when shut compels the water in the crank-case to rise in the gage-cup D to the same height as in the crank-case and then to overflow through pipe'B into C again, and thence passes into a receiver E, which is in the nature of aseparator for the oil and water, the oil rising by reason of its lighter gravity and accumulatingv in a layer on the surface, from which it is skimmed off and filtered for use again. The separator E has a stand-pipe F, which is tapped into the bottom .of the separator and rises to within four or five inches of the top. K is a large watersupply tank arranged in elevated position in relation to the crank-case. From thissu pplytank water is continuously fed through a pipe A- and valve a into the crank-case. The supply-tank K and separator E are preferably made of such capacity as to furnish water enough to occupy a days time in running through the crank-case from the supply-tank to the separator. If there is available an unlimited water-supply, tank K can be dispensed with and the water can be introduced direct through pipe A. This water in such case after passing through the crank-case into the separator E may be allowed to run to waste through the pipe F and a waste-pipe, such as is shown in dotted lines at G, the oil being gradually separated and saved by rising in the separator without any attention, since the outflow through pipe F is below the level of the oil. where it is an object to economize the water, the large supply-tank K'is filled from the water-mains through a after it is once filled no more water is required, as the water then passes through supply-pipe A into the crank-case, then through pipes B and G into the separator, and from the separator E is drawn off by pipes F and G by means of a pump H and is. forced up into the tank K again through pipe I, the cooling in transit and the volume of water in the tank K being sufiicient to keep a constant stream of cold water flowing through the crank-case all the time, even if the tanks be not made as large as described. When the crank-case is to be completely drained of its water and oil, the valve 0 is opened, and then all the water and oil flows out through the pipe C.

Instead of using the open gage-cup Dan ordinary glass gage D may be connected to the side of the crank-case to indicate the water-level. The pipe B may in such case be simply turned down to enter pipe C where the lower end of the gage-cup now is or it may be run straight into the crank-case at the desired water-level.

By means of this system of constant circulation of cold water through the crank-case the tfllowing important advantages are secure crank-case, maintaining on changing water a supernatant layer of oil and In a majority of cases, however,

pipe J and valve 1), and

First, it afiords a perfect and automatic regulation of high-speed crank-case engines.

Secondly, it prevents the expansion of the bearings by keeping them cool, and thus avoids the wear of the bearings. Third, it prevents the oil from cooking by the great heat and secures the recovery of so large a quantity of the same in normal condition as to reduce the current expense for oil to about one-twelfth of that ordinarily required in this class of engines.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

'1. The process of cooling and lubricating crank-case engines. which consists in producing a constant flow crank-case and maintaining on the surface of this changing water a supernatant layer of oil substantially as described.

2. The process of cooling and lubricating crank-case engines, which consists in producing a constant flow of cold water through the the surface of the maintaining automatically the level of the oil substantially as described.

3. The process of cooling and lubricating crank-case engines, which consists in producing a constant flow of cold water through the crank-case, maintaining on the surface of the changing water a supernatant layer of oil, maintaining the level of the oil and separating the admixed oil from the water which passes on through substantially asdescribed.

4. The process of cooling and lubricating crank-case engines, which consists in producing a constant flow of cold water through the crank-case, maintaining on the surface of the changing Water a supernatant layer of oil, maintaining the level of this oil, separating the admixed oil from the water which passes on through, cooling this water and returning it to the inflow-supply substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination with a crank-case engine; of an inlet water-supply pipe and two outlet-pipes one arranged at the bottom of thecrank-case and the other at the desired waterlevel, said pipes being in communication with each other at opposite ends, a valve arranged in the lower pipe between the ends of the upper pipe, and a gravity separator-tank having astand-pipe opening at its lower end into the separator substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination with a crank-case engine; of an inlet water-supply pipe, two outlet-pipes, one arranged at the bottom of the crank-case and the other at the desired waterlevel and communicating with the lower one at its outer end, an open gage-cup connecting the upper and lower pipes, a valve arranged in the lower pipe between the point of union of the gage-cup on one side and the upof cold water through the per'pipe on the other side, and aseparatorthereof, a pump connecting with said pipe I tank having an overflow standpipe as deand another pipe connecting the pump with scribed. the water-supply tank substantially as de- 7. The combination with acrank-case enscribed. 5 gine; ofawater-supply tank and an inlet-pipe ROBERT E BOWMAN connecting the same with the crank-case, over-- i flow outlet-pipes as described for maintaining Witnesses:

the level of water in the crank-case, asepa- W. T. DAVIS, rator-tank with pipe opening into the bottom 0. V. RInEY. 

